One of the people who inspired me to write my book Introverted Leadership is Stephen Covey. In his book The 7 Habits of Effective Leadership, he gives many useful tips to make your life a little easier. Today I would like to zoom in on the second characteristic he describes, because it can help you map out your future path.
In his book, Covey describes seven habits that help you move forward in life. Number two is about having a clear end goal. It becomes easier to find your way and overcome obstacles if your end goal is clear.
When determining your own future, you have both short-term and long-term goals. One goal will also be bigger than the other. In making those goals, you also take your own values and principles into account.
Mission statement
Covey recommends writing down these goals in a so-called mission statement. In it you describe where you ultimately want to go as a person. In this way you create a goal for yourself that you can then work towards in steps. This can be on a business or private level.
To draft this mission statement, you can ask yourself questions like:
- What does the bigger picture look like to me?
- Where do I want to go?
- Who do I want to become?
- What is really important to me?
- What are my core values?
- What is my unique contribution?
- What do I have to do for this?
This mission statement is of course a living document that you can refine over and over again. It's not about completeness, but more about giving direction to where you want to go. You will notice that if you have that clear for yourself, it becomes much easier to actually work on it.
Do you want to know more about how to map out a future path for yourself? Please feel free to contact me.
